Garment constructions

ABSTRACT

A garment construction comprises waistline means, at least one front garment panel having an upper edge portion thereof secured to a front portion of the waistline means, at least one rear garment panel having an upper edge portion thereof secured to a rear portion of the waistline means, an arrangement for joining the left lateral edges of said garment panels together, an arrangement for joining the right lateral edges of said garment panels together, at least one of joining arrangements being quick-detachable to provide a closable garment opening thereby, a quick-detachable arrangement for joining ends of the waistline means in juxtaposition to the detachable panel joining arrangement, and a belt member having one end thereof affixed to one end of the waistline front portion and having the other end thereof quick-detachably joinable to the other end of the waistline front portion. The rear garment panel can, therefore, be laterally disengaged from one side of the front garment panel and folded across, with the belt member upon having its detachable end joined to the waistline front portion retaining the garment construction about a wearer&#39;&#39;s waist. When embodied as a shorts- or pant-type garment construction a quick-detachable crotch area is provided. In the latter embodiment the belt member can be omitted.

[ GARMENT CONSTRUCTIONS Laura C. Roy, 122 Laird St., Greensburg, Pa. 15601 [22] Filed: Dec. 26, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 427,825

[76] Inventor:

[52] [1.8. CI. 2/212 [51] Int. Cl A4ld l/l4 [58] Field OfSearch ..2/2l2,2l3,2ll,7l,72, 2/227, 69, 79, DIG. 2

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 596,520 l/1898 Lewis 2/212 1,139,532 5/1915 Kelly et al 2/79 X 1,374,040 4/1921 Tjaeransen 2/212 2,138,230 1l/l938 Friedman.... 2/212 X 2,580,774 1/1952 Helbig 2/212 2,722,686 11/1955 Hoskings 2/79 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 643,445 6/1962 Canada 2/211 626,624 8/1961 Canada 2/211 Primary Examiner-H. Hampton Hunter Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Donn J. Smith 7] ABSTRACT A garment construction comprises waistline means, at

1 Jan. 14, 1975 least one front garment panel having an upper edge portion thereof secured to a front portion of the waistline means, at least one rear garment panel having an upper edge portion thereof secured to a rear portion of the waistline means, an arrangement for joining the left lateral edges of said garment panels together, an arrangement for joining the right lateral edges of said garment panels together, at least. one of joining arrangements being quick-detachable to provide a closable garment opening thereby, a quick'detachable arrangement for joining ends of the waistline means in juxtaposition to the detachable panel joining arrangement, and a belt member having one end thereof affixed to one end of the waistline front portion and having the other end thereof quick-detachably joinable to the other end of the waistline front portion. The rear garment panel can, therefore, be laterally disengaged from one side of the front garment panel and folded across, with the belt member upon having its detachable end joined to the waistline front portion retaining the garment construction about a wearers waist.

When embodied as a shortsor pant-type garment construction a quick-detachable crotch area is provided. In the latter embodiment the belt member can be omitted.

10 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures PATENIEl] JAN 1 4 I975 sum 10F 2 1 GARMENT CONSTRUCTIONS My present invention relates to womens wearing apparel and more particularly to womens outer garments which can be donned and doffed readily and which facilitates attendance to physical functions.

There are many situations where it is undesirable, inconvenient or immodest to manipulate womens garments in the usual manner in attendance to the normal physical functions. Manipulation of the garments in the usual manner, as dictated by the conventional structure of the garments, frequently causes the garments to be soiled or wrinkled or to interfere with the wearer. In many instances, for example public washrooms, manipulation of the conventional garments forces undesired contact of the garments with the enviroment, which may be lacking in cleanliness. The disarray to which the garments are subjected at these times frequently results in soiling, snagging or wrinkling or other distortion of the garments, depending upon the material from which the garments are made.

Conventional garments in this category are often inconvenient and sometimes cumbersome to donn and to doff depending on the individual. With the modern trend toward tighter fitting, womens garments these difficulties are aggravated. In many cases a more than average sense of balance is required to step into or out of conventional garments and to perform the other motions required in putting on or taking off the garments. In many cases, particularly during donning of the garments the material tends to bunch up or otherwise to wrinkle or crease undesirably.

Although the present invention is directed primarily to womens garments, for example of the skirted-pant, pant-set, or mini-skirt variety, the invention is applicable to certain male garments such as bermuda shorts.

According to the invention a rear panel of the garment can be folded across the front of the garment and temporarily secured during attendance to physical functions in order to preserve the cleanliness of the garment, prevent wrinkling or creasing, and/or to enhance the wearers modesty depending upon the circumstances. Unexpected means are provided for independently securing the front panel of the garment to the wearer. On the other hand, a surprising result is obtained in that an attractive and normally appearing garment is provided, when the back panel is restored and secured at its proper location on the wearer. Surprisingly enough, the normal construction of my garment and the potential manipulation of the garment made possible thereby are concealed during the normal use of the garment, in accordance with still another feature of the invention. In another feature of the invention I provide means for thus manipulating the garment from either side of the wearer.

The principles of the invention can be readily applied to pant-sets, shorts, skirted-shorts, and over-skirt type garments and in general to relatively short bifurcate garments having a crotch. In the last-mentioned group of garments, I unexpectedly provide quick-detach securance means for the garment in the area of the crotch so that the crotch in effect can be severed during the folding procedures discussed above. The crotch or transverse quick-detach means cooperate with longitudinal quick-detach means provided elsewhere in the garment, preferably at one side or other of the wearer (or both) to produce a wrap-around effect when the garment is donned or doffed and to permit folding of the rear panel of the garment, including a crotch portion where applicable, at the other side of the wearer and around the front thereof, in the manner described above.

I accomplish these desirable ends and overcome the difficulties of the prior art by providing a garment con struction comprising waistline means, at least one front garment panel having an upper edge portion thereof secured to a front portion of said waistline means, at least one rear garment panel having an upper edge portion thereof secured to a rear portion of said waistline means, means for joining the left lateral edges of said garment panels together, means for joining the right lateral edges of said garment panels together, at least one of said joining means being quick-detachable to provide a closable garment opening thereby, quickdetachable means for joining ends of said waistline means in juxtaposition to said detachable panel joining means, and a belt member having one end thereof affixed to one end of said waistline front portion and having the other end thereof quick-detachably joinable to the other end of said waistline front portion, whereby said rear garment panel can be laterally disengaged from one side of said front garment panel and folded thereacross, said belt member upon having its detachable end joined to said waistline front portion retaining said garment construction about a wearers waist.

I also desirably provide a similar garment construction including said waistline joining means being so disposed for rejoining upon folding of said rear panel across said front panel as to retain temporarily said rear panel in the folded condition thereof.

I also desirably provide a similar garment construction including said front garment panel and said rear garment panel being bifurcated in construction, means for joining the inward bifurcate edges of said panels to form a garment crotch, said bifurcate edge-joining means being quick-detachable to permit said rear bifurcate panel to the folded over said front bifurcate panel as aforesaid.

I also desirably provide a similar garment construction including an overskirt panel positioned over at least said front bifurcate panel, said skirt panel having an upper edge thereof joined at least to said waistline means.

I also desirably provide a garment construction comprising waistline means for encircling a wearers waist, at least one front garment panel having an upper edge thereof secured to a front portion of said waistline means, at least one rear garment panel having an upper edge thereof secured to a rear portion of said waistline means, first lateral joining means for joining the left lateral edges of said garment panels, second lateral joining means for joining the right lateral edges ofsaid panels, at least one of said lateral joining :means being quickdetachable to provide a closable garment opening thereby, quick-detachable waistline joining means for detachably joining ends of said waistline means in juxtaposition to said quick-detachable lateral joining means, said front garment panel having a bifurcate configuration, and means for quick-detachably joining the inward bifurcate edges of said panels to form a severable crotch for said garment construction, whereby said garment can be donned and doffed in wrap-around fashion.

I am aware of a number of garment constructions, which have been proposed from time to time, as typified by he following US. Pat. Nos.

Flynt 156,018 Winthrop 549,472 Greenbaum 2,048,120 Friedman 2,138,230 Wellstatter 2,519,866 Helbig 2,580,774 Jones 2,756,433 Johnson 2,875,445 Rodriquez 3,068,488

However, the aforementioned references fail to disclose, either singly or in combination, the novel features of my invention as set forth herein.

During the foregoing discussion, various objectives, features and advantages of the invention have been set forth. These and other objectives, features and advantages of the invention together with structural details thereof will be elaborated upon during the forthcoming description of certain presently preferred embodiments of the invention and presently preferred methods of practicing the same.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown certain presently preferred embodiments of the invention and have illustrated certain presently preferred methods of practicing the same wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a womans skirt and pant-set made in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevational view of the skirt and pantset shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a left side elevational view of the garment shown in the preceding Figures;

FIG. 4 is an inside plan view of the garment shown in the preceding Figures, with the several fastening means thereof disengaged to form a closable garment opening;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are somewhate enlarged partial views of the waistband and belt securement means;

FIG. 5 is a rear elevational view of the garment shown in the preceding Figures, but with the back panel folded over the front panel thereof;

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view of the garment as illustrated in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an inside plan view similar to FIG. 4, but illustrating a womens pant-set made according to the invention without an overskirt;

FIG. 8 is a similar illustration of a mini-skirt or the like made in accordance with he invention; and

FIG. 9 is a front elevational view of a garment construction similar to that shown in FIG. 7 but having opening means at both sides of the garment for selectively folding the rear panel thereof in either direction over the front panel.

FIG. 10 is a partial isometric view of another form of the garment of the invention.

With reference initially to FIGS. 1-4 of the drawings, a skirt and pant-set shown therein comprises a front overskirt panel 22, a bifurcate front panel 24 and a bifurcate rear panel 26. In the disclosed garment 20 the front and rear panels 24, 26 are joined by means described presently to form a pant-set or shorts configuration.

The front and rear panels 24, 26 can be conventionally bipartite and stitched at 28, 30 respectively for ease of construction and to provide the necessary or desired garment configurations complementary to the bodily contours of the wearer. The skirt and bifurcate panels 22-26 can be secured at their top edges to waistline means such as a waistband 32 the ends of which can be quick-detachably joined at the left side of the garment 20 by means of a button 34 and buttonhole or holed tab 36. Other forms of joining means can be substituted. Alternatively the waistband 32 can be joined at the right side (not shown in FIGS. 1-4) or at both sides after the manner of FIG. 9.

The overskirt panel 22 and the bifurcate front and rear panels 24, 26, in this example, are joined at their right side edges by suitable lateral joining means such as a line of stitching denoted generally by reference numeral 38. The left side edges of the overskirt 22 and the front bifurcate panel 24 are joined by a line of stitching 40, and these edges are in turn detachably joined to the left edge of the rear panel 26 by suitable quickdetachable lateral joining means, such as a full length zipper 42 or the like, as better shown in FIG. 4.

The inward bifurcate edges of the front and back bifurcated panels 24, 26 are joined to form a severable crotch 44 (FIGS 1 & 2) of the garment 20 by suitable quick-detachable joining means such as zipper 46 (FIG. 4) desirably extending along the full length of the crotch or inseam 44. The zipper 46 can be sewn into the crotch 44 in the conventional manner of attaching zippers generally in garments which will avoid chafing the inner thighs of the wearer. My novel crotch configuration prevents the garment from gathering up into the wearers crotch.

From the description thus far of the garment 20 it will be seen that the garment construction 20 can be put on or taken off in wrap-around fashion, by closing and opening the side zipper 42 and the crotch zipper 46, which are jacket-type or separatory zippers. Other similarly located fastening means can be employed such as plastic zippers, sticky closures, snaps, buttons or skirt eyes and hooks. If a rear skirt panel (not shown) be employed in conjunction with the rear bifurcate or shorts panel 26, the shorts panels can be made shorter than the over-skirt panels.

My novel garment construction eliminates the necessity of stepping into or out of the garment or to draw the garment, in some cases, over tightly fitting areas. In general, manipulation of the garment is facilitated and the wearer has complete control of the garment at all times.

For attendance to physical functions as noted previously, the garment 20 is provided with means for securing the front panels 22, 24 independently about the waist of the wearer to permit temporary displacement of the back panel 26 and that portion of the waistband 32 attached thereto, as explained in detail below. In further accordance with the invention the back panel 26 can be folded out of the way and across the front panel or panels of the garment and temporarily secured in such position to prevent contact with the enviroment and soiling of the garment.

One arrangement for independently suspending the front panel or panels 22, 24 from the wearers waist includes belt section or member 48 (FIGS. 4 & 5) having its inward end secured desirably to the front portion of the waistband 32 adjacent the top of the side seam 38 of the garment 20. The inward end of the belt 48 can be secured at this location by means of suitable, and desirably decorative, stitching denoted generally at 49. The length of the belt section 48 is such that the belt 48 and that portion of the waistband 32 extending along the front panel or panels of the garment 20 comfortably encircle the waist of the wearer. The belt section 48 can be made adjustable by fabrication from a length of elastic-and-cloth band or by use of conventional external adjustment means such as slip buckles. In the illustrated arrangement, the outward end of the belt section 48 is provided with a skirt hook 50 or the like for cooperation with a skirt eye or rod member 52 secured to the inside of the waistband 32 and preferably adjacent the holed tab 36 or other button hole thereof.

In the use of the garment 20, according to the invention, the garment is put on in wrap-around fashion by the wearer, with the side zipper 42 and the crotch zippers 46 undone or detached as shown in FIG. 5. The belt section 48 is secured about the waist of the wearer and its free end is attached adjacent the holed tab 36 of the waistband 32 on'the inside thereof by means of the quickdetachable fastener 50 52. The unsecured or rear panel 26 is then brought around the rear of the wearer and its button 34 is fastened to the holed tab 36. The side zipper 42 and crotch zipper 44, or other suitable fastening means, are then closed to present the appearance of a conventional skirt and pant-set as evident from FIGS. 1-3 of the drawings.

For attendance to physical functions the rear panel 26 of the garment can be disengaged at the crotch 44 and at the left side of the garment (or at the right side depending on zipper 42 location) by undoing the zippers 42, 46. The garment panel 26 thereupon can be folded around the front of the wearer and out of the way as shown in FIG. 6. In general, the garment can be folded in the area of its right side seam 38 (the seam can be formed at the left side of the wearer and the zipper 42 placed at the right depending on a particular garment construction) so that the rear panel 26 generally overlies the overskirt 22 or other'front panel of the garment 20. The rear panel 26 can be temporarily secured in this position by engaging its button 34 with the holed tab 36 or other suitably located button hole on the front portion of the waistband 32, or more preferably, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the rear panel button is secured temporarily under an otherwise decorative belt loop 53 positioned adjacently of the holed tab 36. In the latter position of the garment, the garment remains secured to the wearer by means of the belt section 48, which, together with the front portion of the waistband 32 encircles the wearers waist as described previously.

It will be understood that a similar overskirt or skirt panel (not shown) can be secured to the rear portion of the waistband 32 so as to overlie the rear bifurcate panel 26 in much the same manner that the front skirt panel 22 overlies the front bifurcate panel 24. Thus, one or two garment panels can be attached to the front portion of the waistband 32, and likewise one or two garment panels can be attached to the rear portion of the waistband 32. It will be further understood that the waistband 32 need not be a continuous band of material (save for the holed tab opening or openings), but instead can be formed for example by a suitable hem formed in the upper edges of the several garment panels. Similarly the button 34 and related buttonhole can be formed in the respective upper corners of the garment panels adjacent the upper end of the zipper 42 or other side closure means. Thus, the upper edge por-, tions of the garment panels can be utilized to form a waistline area or means for substantially encircling the waist of the wearer, or the waistline means can be defined by a separate waistband stitched as shown or otherwise secured to the upper edges of the garment panels.

It will be apparent that the principles of my invention can be readily applied to other forms of garments. For example, inFIG. 7, where similar reference numerals with primed accents denote similar components of the preceding figures, a pant-set 54 is illustrated. The pant set 54 is constructed generally similar to the garment construction 20, with the principal exception that the overskirt 22 thereof has been omitted. The garment 54 is otherwise put on, taken off and folded across the front as desired, in the manner described previously in connection with the garment 20.

It will be apparent from the shorts-type garments shown in FIGS. 1-7 (and also in FIG. 9 described below) that the belt section 48 or 418 can be omitted, if only the wraparound feature of the invention is desired.

Another exemplary application of the principles of my invention is illustrated in FIG. 8 showing a novel mini-skirt type garment 56. In FIG. 8 similar reference numerals with doubly primed accents likewise denote similar components of FIG. 4 and. related figures. The garment 56 of FIG. 8 includes a front skirt panel 58 and a rear skirt panel 60 which are joined at the side seam 38". The crotch 44 and crotch zipper 46 of the preceding figures are, of course, eliminated. The conforming seams 28, 30 can also be omitted.

The garment 56 of FIG. 8 is put on, taken off and folded across the front as described above with reference to the garment 20 of FIGS. 1-6, except that the crotch and manipulation of the crotch zipper are omitted.

FIG. 9 shows another unexpected feature of my invention embodied in a shorts-type garment 62, similar to that shown in FIG. 7. In place of the side seam 38a of FIG. 7, the garment 62 is provided with a second and right side quickdetachable joining means such as zipper 42b, which is similar to the left side zipper 42a of FIG. 9 and to the side zipper 42, 42' or 42" of the preceding figures. Likewise the crotch zipper 46a is similar to the crotch zipper 46 of FIG. 7.

The waistband 38a of FIG. 9 is provided with a second holed tab 64 for cooperation with a second button 66 similarly located on the back panel 26a. The garment 62 can also be provided with belt section 48a as in the preceding figures. The belt section 48a is permanently secured at one of its ends to one upper corner of the front panel 24a and detachably secured at its other end to the other upper front corner of the front panel. The rear panel 26a can be unzippered at either the left side or the right side of the garment 62 and folded in the related direction over the front panel and temporarily secured either by its button 34a or 66 to the holed tab 36a or 64 respectively of the front panel 24a. That is to say the garment 62 can have its rear panel 26a folded along either its right side zipper 42a or its left side zipper 42b by first undoing the other zipper and the related button.

The garment 62 can be put on, taken off, or folded across the front after the manner described in connection with the garment 2th of FIGS. 1-6, with the additional feature that the garment 62 can be opened at either side of the wearer (along with opening its crotch zipper 46a).

The garment of FIG. 9 provides new horizons of re versibility and interchangeability. For example, assume that an individual owned identical garments, each of which is provided with a zipper at each side. Now, if the two garments were of differing colors the individual could produce four different garments, as the front panel of one garment can be attached to the rear panel of the other garment and vice versa. If the two garments were also reversible in accordance with conventional techniques of fastening the zippers therein and the like, and if the inside surfaces of each garment had respectively differing colors and/or designs, then from the two garments the individual could produce a total of at least sixteen color and/or design combinations. ln arriving at this number of combinations a garment with color A at the front panel and color B at the rear would be considered one combination while a garment with color B at the front and color A at the rear would be considered an additional garment combination.

The priciples of such reversibility and interchangeability as incorporated into my novel garment construction are illustrated in FIG. 10. Garment 70 is in the form of a miniskirt having a front skirt panel 72 and a rear skirt panel 74 which are joined at their sides by jacket type zippers 76, 78 respectively. The front skirt panel 72 is provided with anauxiliary belt section 80 after the manner of the preceding figures.

The auxiliary belt 80, however, desirably has one end stitched edgewise to the adjacent edge of the material comprising the front panel 72 as denoted by reference numeral 82. The other end of the belt section 80 is quick detachably joined edgewise to the opposite upper corner of the front skirt panel. In furtherance of this purpose skirt eye 84 is secured to the adjacent edge portion of the material comprising the front skirt panel 72, while a skirt hook 86 is joined to the very end of the belt section 80. These fastening components can of course be reversed. In any event the belt section 80 is secured to the front skirt panel 72 substantially in the same manner irrespective of which side of the panel is worn outwardly.

When the rear panel 74 is secured about the wearer in the usual position the open zipper 78 is closed and the waist band sections 88, 90 of the front and back panels are joined at the adjacent side of the wearer by means of button 92 and holed tab 94 or other suitable junction means. When the rear panel 74 is folded across the front of the wearer its button 92 can be secured under decorative belt loop 96. The opposite side of the garment 70 can be similarly constructed including zipper 98 to facilitate reversibility and interchangeability with another, similar garment.

Although the invention has been illustrated and described primarily in conjunction with mini-skirt, skirt and pantset, and shorts-type garments, it will be readily apparent that the invention is applicable to a variety of wearing apparel. For example, the invention is applicable to skirts of various lengths, tennis shorts, skating skirts, tights, pant-sets of various lengths, slack suits (where there is no objection to a correspondingly lengthened crotch zipper), culottes, and midi-andmaxi-skirts. The invention is likewise applicable to bermuda shorts and similar garments. Although the invention is advantageously used for the aforementioned and other outer garments the principles set forth herein can also be applied to undergarments such as girdles and panties.

The invention is also advantageously employed with sportswear and campwear for the purposes aforesaid. With the rapid rise in camping and sporting activities,

increasing numbers of users of these types of garments are encountering outdoor and other relatively primitive facilities in their travels. In these situations relatively unclean enviroments and other situations in which the garments can be readily soiled, creased or wrinkled, are likely to be encountered.

Further, in many dressing room accommodations and in various types of travel trailers and other camping equipment, dressing room space is at a premium and at best is cramped. The wrap-around features of my invention can be used to advantage in these situations, as well as in other situations mentioned previously, where it is difficult for the wearer the maintain balance.

From the foregoing it will be seen that novel and efficient garment constructions have been described herein. The descriptive and illustrative materials employed herein are utilized for purposes of exemplifying the invention and not in limitation thereof. Accordingly, numerous modifications of the invention will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionfMoreover, it is to be understood that certain features of the invention can be used to advantage without a corresponding use of other features thereof.

I claim:

1. A garment construction comprising waistline means, at least one front garment panel having an upper edge portion thereof secured to a front portion of said waistline means, at least one rear garment panel having an upper edge portion thereof secured to rear portion of said waistline means, means for joining the left lateral edges of said garment panels together, means for joining the right lateral edges of said garment panels together, at least one of said joining means being quick-detachable to provide a closable garment opening thereby, quick-detachable means for joining ends of said waistline means in juxtaposition to said detachable panel joining means, and a belt member normally extendable around the rear portion of said garment and having one end thereof affixed to one end of said waistline front portion and having the other end thereof quick-detachably joinable to the other end of said waistline front portion, whereby said rear garment panel can be laterally disengaged from one side of said front garment panel and folded thereacross, said belt member upon having its detachable end joined to said waistline front portion retaining said garment construction about a wearers waist.

2. The combination according to claim 1 including said waistline joining means being so disposed for rejoining upon folding of said rear panel across said front panel as to retain temporarily said rear panel in the folded condition thereof.

3. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said quick-detachable panel joining means include a zipper-type closure, and said waistline joining means include a button and a holed tab.

4. The combination according to claim 1 wherein the other of said lateral panel joining means are also quickdetachable, and additional waistline quick-detachable joining means are juxtaposed to said other panel joining means.

5. The combination according to claim 1 including said front garment panel and said rear garment panel being bifurcated in construction, means for joining the inward bifurcate edges of said panels to form a garment crotch, said bifurcate edge-joining means being quickdetachable to permit said rear bifurcate panel to be folded over said front bifurcate panel as aforesaid.

6. The combination according to claim wherein said bifurcate edge-joining means include a zipper type closure.

7. The combination according to claim 5 including an overskirt panel positioned over at least said front bifurcate panel, said skirt panel having an upper edge thereof joined at least to said waistline means.

8. The combination according to claim 4 including at least one additional substantially identical garment construction, said additional garment construction having a similar belt member similarly joined thereto so that a front panel of the first-mentioned garment conreversible. 

1. A garment construction comprising waistline means, at least one front garment panel having an upper edge portion thereof secured to a front portion of said waistline means, at least one rear garment panel having an upper edge portion thereof secured to rear portion of said waistline means, means for joining the left lateral edges of said garment panels together, means for joining the right lateral edges of said garment panels together, at least one of said joining means being quick-detachable to provide a closable garment opening thereby, quicK-detachable means for joining ends of said waistline means in juxtaposition to said detachable panel joining means, and a belt member normally extendable around the rear portion of said garment and having one end thereof affixed to one end of said waistline front portion and having the other end thereof quick-detachably joinable to the other end of said waistline front portion, whereby said rear garment panel can be laterally disengaged from one side of said front garment panel and folded thereacross, said belt member upon having its detachable end joined to said waistline front portion retaining said garment construction about a wearer''s waist.
 2. The combination according to claim 1 including said waistline joining means being so disposed for rejoining upon folding of said rear panel across said front panel as to retain temporarily said rear panel in the folded condition thereof.
 3. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said quick-detachable panel joining means include a zipper-type closure, and said waistline joining means include a button and a holed tab.
 4. The combination according to claim 1 wherein the other of said lateral panel joining means are also quick-detachable, and additional waistline quick-detachable joining means are juxtaposed to said other panel joining means.
 5. The combination according to claim 1 including said front garment panel and said rear garment panel being bifurcated in construction, means for joining the inward bifurcate edges of said panels to form a garment crotch, said bifurcate edge-joining means being quick-detachable to permit said rear bifurcate panel to be folded over said front bifurcate panel as aforesaid.
 6. The combination according to claim 5 wherein said bifurcate edge-joining means include a zipper type closure.
 7. The combination according to claim 5 including an overskirt panel positioned over at least said front bifurcate panel, said skirt panel having an upper edge thereof joined at least to said waistline means.
 8. The combination according to claim 4 including at least one additional substantially identical garment construction, said additional garment construction having a similar belt member similarly joined thereto so that a front panel of the first-mentioned garment construction can be joined to the rear panel of said additional garment construction and vice versa.
 9. The combination according to claim 8 wherein the garment panels of each of said garment constructions are finished on both sides, and said belt members are joined edgewise respectively to said front garment panels so that said garment constructions are both interchangeable and reversible.
 10. The combination according to claim 1 including said belt member being joined edgewise to said waistline front portion so that said garment construction is reversible. 